Steve Kelman on Politics, Culture, and Life, 5.4.2022
Steve Kelman, Harvard Kennedy School prof, moderate Dem, pro free speech/anti cancel culture, pro tax rich, pro-Israel. Research improving gov performance, China interest. Blog reprints Facebook posts
Weibo accounts of China covid critics cancelled
The South China Morning Post reports that weibo accounts of some economists affiliated even with state banks have been canceled because of their posts about China's covid policy.
Musk ideas about Twitter seem sensible
The Economist reports that the ideas Elon Musk has presented to date for Twitter are: fewer outright bans and more temporary suspensions, requiring users to prove they are not bots, and when in doubt leave a tweet up. All three seem sensible to me.
Inconsistency on free speech?
Why are Republican so-called "free speech advocates" so quick to want to forbid teachers from saying things in the classroom about critical race theory?
Russians say Pippi Longstockings a Nazi
Swedish TV reports tonight that posters have appeared outside the Swedish embassy in Moscow stating that Pippi Longstockings author (along with some other Swedish names well-known in Russia) was a Nazi. The idea seems to be that this explains Swedish support for Ukraine.
China growing more democratic as it grows richer?
Interesting observation at the beginning of the Bruce Dickson book on the Chinese Communist Party I have started. He notes that Western experts believed that as China grew more prosperous it would grow more democratic -- a common pattern around the world and across time. But the Communist Party believed/hoped that as China grew more prosperous, people would like the party more.
Hong Kong plummets on press freedom ranking
On World Press Freedom Day, Hong Kong plummeted 68 places to 148th in the Reporters Without Borders 2022 Press Freedom Index - the largest fall of any territory. Awful.
Sweden more restrictive than US on abortion
Swedish TV news had a report tonight on the coming Supreme Court decision on abortion. Interestingly, the story noted that in the US abortion is currently legal up to the 24th week, while in Sweden it is legal only through the 19th week (after only with special permission). The anchor asked their US correspondent if there might be a compromise around 19 weeks in the US. "No," was the answer.
Guys wearing longer hair?
As with most matters of style, I am largely clueless, but I have been noticing recently (maybe earlier, just noticing now) that male students seem to be wearing their hair quite long. Not reached 60's Beatle style yet, but seems to have changed. Can more with-it people tell me if I am right here?
Abortion has been a very explosive issue in the US ever since Roe v. Wade. What would have happened if we had modeled our abortion rules on Scandinavian policies? It might have muted a lot of objections, but now it seems to be impossible to consider any changes along those lines.
You're definitely right about men wearing longer hair. The trend is towards straight shoulder length hair. The Beatles had bangs and today's young men usually do not.